Bob Marley’s cry for unity falling on deaf ears
MY IMMEDIATE reaction after watching Bob Marley: One Love was, “I need to see this again.” Like a great novel that can be read over and over, inspiring new insights, the Marley biopic is destined to become a classic. Though it focuses on only a brief period in Marley’s extraordinary life, the film documents a tempestuous time in both personal and national history.
The opening scenes of the biopic tell a familiar story: the father who abandons his son, leaving a void in the child’s life. That disturbing image of Norval Marley, sitting high on his horse, is a dread reminder of the colonial history of Jamaica. Sexual exploitation of the black woman by the white overload is a recurring disaster. Cedella Malcolm is left to raise Bob on her own. It seems as if the only legacy the child inherits from his father is his name.
Bob’s life in Kingston’s concrete jungle is recorded in flashbacks that show the role of Rastafari livity in his development. Mortimo ‘Brother Kumi’ Planno becomes a spiritual father and teacher. It is in Trench Town that the romance between Bob and Rita blossoms. The tenderness of young love contrasts with the bitter confrontations provoked by Bob’s infidelity in later years.
“WHAT A JOY!”
Bob Marley: One Love is propelled by t he magnificent performance of Kingsley Ben-Adir. Hardcore nationalists who are upset because a Jamaican was not chosen to play the lead role in the biopic obviously do not understand the movie business. First and foremost, it is a business. Investors expect to make a profit. They are not going to take a chance on a no-name actor. They want a box-office draw. It’s not enough for the lead actor to look like Marley. He must have the star power that will guarantee appeal to a very wide audience. Kingsley Ben-Adir most certainly fitted the bill.
Mike Ireland, co-head of Paramount Motion Picture Group, is quoted in a report on the biopic by Mike Fleming Jr for Deadline – Hollywood Entertainment. Ireland highlighted the reaction of the audience at the Jamaican première of the biopic: “The second that Kingsley said his first line, the audience applauded because they knew we didn’t screw it up. They were very afraid of the Hollywood whitewashed version of the story.”
Last Tuesday, Dr Joseph Farquharson, head of the Jamaican Language Unit (JLU) at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, hosted a conversation featuring Kingsley Ben-Adir; Fae Ellington, dialect coach; and Brett Tyne, dialogue coach for the biopic. It can be accessed on the Unit’s Braadkyaas Jamiekan Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Tonoc9rhY0Ait7KxVrNHw
Fae celebrated Ben-Adir’s commitment to his craft: “I just want to recognise the time and effort and diligence ... If he did not have the capacity, and if he did not apply himself the way he did, which was his responsibility, his total responsibility, to my mind, it could never have happened that we would be singing the praises of this man who played, Kingsley BenAdir, who played Bob and Jamaica is not falling to pieces because they are dissatisfied.”
In an emotional moment, BenAdir expressed his respect for the discriminating Jamaican audience: “I just, I just wanted ... to be able to set foot back in Jamaica after the film comes out. You know, I was like, I just want to be able to set foot. Ahm, and so whatever it took to get us to that place. Ahm, but yeah! What a joy!”
“WATCH WHAT YOU’RE DOING”
Bob Marley: One Love ends with footage of Marley himself performing at the famous 1978 One Love Peace Concert. The singer made a soul-stirring altar call on that momentous occasion, as he invited on stage Michael Manley and Edward Seaga: “Just let me tell you something, yeah, to make everything come true, we gotta be together, yeah, yeah. And through the spirit of the Most High, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I, we’re inviting a few leading people ... to shake hands. To show the people that you love them right, to show the people that you gonna unite, show the people that you’re alright, show the people that everything is alright.
“Watch, watch, watch what you’re doing, because I wanna send a message right out there. I mean, I’m not so good at talking but I hope you understand what I’m trying to say. Well, I’m trying to say, could we have, could we have, up here on stage here the presence of Mr. Michael Manley and Mr. Edward Seaga. I just want to shake hands and show the people that we’re gonna make it right, we’re gonna unite, we’re gonna make it right, we’ve got to unite.”
Marley joined the hands of Manley and Seaga above his head in a show of peace. It was a symbolic gesture that had no lasting effect. Almost 46 years later, the singer’s cry for unity still falls on deaf ears. His warning to politicians to watch what they are doing has not been heeded. There is very little evidence that politicians actually love the people. It seems as if their only intention is to amass as much wealth as they can. And, like Egyptian Pharaohs, they, apparently, intend to take their riches to their grave.
Particularly at this moment of conflict over the results of the local government elections, we must, as a nation, listen to Bob Marley’s message of unity. If local government elections have caused so much disunity, God help us when the general election is called. We had better remember proverbial wisdom that warns us to tek sleep an mark death.